More generally, a step is a smaller or narrower interval in a musical line, and a skip is a wider or larger interval, with the categorization of intervals into steps and skips is determined by the tuning system and the pitch space used.

Melodic motion in which the interval between any two consecutive pitches is no more than a step, or, less strictly, where skips are rare, is called stepwise or conjunctmelodic motion, as opposed to skipwise or disjunct melodic motion, characterized by frequent skips.

Melody may be characterized by its degree and type of conjunct and disjunct motion. For example, Medievalplainchant melodies are generally characterized by conjunct motion with occasional thirds, fourths, and generally ascending fifths while larger intervals are quite rare though octave leaps may occur between two separate phrases.[4]Renaissance melodies are generally characterized by conjunct motion, with only occasional leaps of more than a fifth and then rarely anything but a sixth or octave.[1] In contrast, melody in the 20th century varied greatly including the diatonic idiom of the 18th century (Classical), the variety of idioms from the 19th century (Romantic), and newer nondiatonic scales in the 20th century.[5] Some of these later idioms included many or predominately leaps.